October 2022 – Page 8 – Splendid Isolation

A Question Of Equipment

October 19, 2022 Kim du Toit Gratuitous Gun Pics

Okay, so you’re faced with this situation:

Furious drivers have blasted police after two eco zealots ascended two 275ft masts and are dangling over the M25, causing Dartford Bridge to close for more than 17 hours today but no officers have been sent to fetch them down due to ‘safety’ concerns.

Police said the operation was ‘complex’ due to the height at which the protestors are currently situated, adding it would take time to get them down.

Like most of my Readers, I’m positive that getting these little shits down shouldn’t take any time at all, with the proper equipment.

I’m thinking a decent shotgun with 28-30″ barrels, such as something sidelock-y from Abbiatico & Salvinelli, would do the trick:

…or, if you’re of the Over And Under persuasion, their Excalibur model:

…but I confess that I’m a little stumped as to the best gauge (12 or 20?) and ammo choice: bird shot or buck shot? (e.g. would 12ga 1oz #7.5 be good, or better to go with 20ga ¾oz #7.5 for its higher velocity?)

The reason I’m unsure is that 275 feet up is quite a distance — much higher than your typical driven bird flies, and at the same time, the humans are much bigger targets requiring a beefier cartridge.

So: what are your suggestions for the ammo, O My Readers?

OR:

Do we just say “the hell with it” and go with a good old sniper rifle, e.g. this ~~Dragunov~~ PSL in 7.62x54R:

…or if we want to stay British, this Lee-Enfield Mk4 No.1 (T) in .303:

While I like the shotgun option (for the challenge), that Mk4 makes one of my digits itch, oh yes it does.

While we may disagree as to the best equipment for this particular job, I think we can all agree that potting eco-zealots (suspended, running, stationary or all three) should be an Olympic sport.

Kettles, Pots And Pans

October 18, 2022 Kim du Toit Fashion, Lifestyle

When it comes to morality, the modeling world is pretty much an untapped pit — unlike the pudenda of its denizens, which have traditionally been tapped more often than kegs at a German beer festival.

So forgive me if I’m untroubled by the teacupstorm of disapproval about supermodel Heidi Klum appearing alongside her (18-year-old) daughter in some Italian lingerie brand. I know, you want to see what all the fuss is about, so here it is:

Several thing suggest themselves, of course: Heidi is still beautiful at whatever her age is (couldn’t be bothered to look it up) and her daughter is very pretty, for any age. And Italian lingerie companies collectively have the morals of stoats when it comes to the age of their models, so I’m frankly surprised that they waited till the girl turned 18.

And speaking of stoatish morality, one of the tut-tutters about this situation has been none other than Ol’ Margarine-Legs herself, Ulrika Jonsson, who in her younger years gave birth to four children by four different men:

“I would never pose with my daughter like Heidi Klum…. it’s wrong and makes me feel deeply uneasy”

Ahem…

And by the way, she has no compunction about featuring herself with her daughter, just on an unpaid basis:

Other people, apparently, share Ulrika’s opinion:

“I wouldn’t model sexy lingerie with my mom”
“Sexualizing your daughter the moment they turn legal is weird”

Ah, such self-righteous bollocks makes me sick. And no Italian lingerie company has offered any of these people, including the wrinkled and rather bedraggled-looking Ulrike, millions of euros to do any of that, so we’ll never really know just how strong their principles are.

Here are the pics which seem to have caused all the ruckus:

I think they’re quite charming, actually.

And like her mother, Lena Klum is gorgeous, with better boobs.

Proper Load

October 18, 2022 Kim du Toit The Gun Thing

As Longtime Readers know full well, I’ve never been a fan of the NATO 9mm Europellet in its 115gr FMJ configuration. I think it’s puny and ineffective, and my only personal experience in its application was seeing a man shot seven times with that load, and surviving the encounter (long story, irrelevant to this discussion).

My only other experience with seeing the effect of a gunshot wound up close and personal was at a morgue (also a long story, not that interesting) where the pathologist showed me the result of a single .45 ACP Silvertip bullet on the deceased’s internal organs — “hamburger” would be the best description.

As a result, I’ve always preferred the latter over the former — real world situations, so to speak.

The other day I was browsing among the assortment of 9mm pistols out there from which I’m going to have to make my choice as a replacement for the Browning High Power, which is destined for Daughter’s next birthday present. Of course, knowing me as y’all do, it should come as no surprise that the leading contender is the excellent CZ 75 B, in its original configuration:

CZ claims that it is the greatest handgun ever made, and while we might all quibble over the manufacturer’s obvious puffery, I would certainly have no problem with its appearance in the top 5 of all 9mm pistols, and nor would anyone else, I think.

One of the stipulations I would make in buying any 9mm pistol, though, is that it could handle a “heavy” 9mm bullet. This would rule out any of the smaller- or pocket pistols like the SIG 365, Springfield Hellcat and so on — you know what I mean. I need a large frame to handle the heavier recoil meted out by what I would consider to be the best choice for a 9mm stopper, the Winchester Silvertip 147gr:

I know that there are similar loads to the Silvertip — the Winchester Ranger comes to mind, also in 147gr — but once again, I’ve seen what the Silvertip has done to an actual human being (as opposed to ballistic gel or putty), so I’m pretty sure that it would be a good choice. Current prices for the Silvertip are about a buck a round, so about the same as any other decent self-defense load extant.

With this gun, loaded with this cartridge, I would feel almost as adequately armed as with my 1911 loaded with 185gr JHP. For practice (and only practice) there’s the El Cheapo 115gr ammo.

Feel free, as always, to discuss the issue in Comments.

Bullshit

October 18, 2022 Kim du Toit Economics, Politics

Headline:

First Task for a GOP Congress: Subpoena the Jan. 6 Committee

With all due respect: fuck that nonsense.

The first task for a GOP Congress is to stimulate the economy, which they can do not by playing meaningless little political games like the above, but by reining in government spending — the management of which, lest we forget, is the primary purpose of Congress.

Here’s a pro tip for the politicians: if the economy is whizzing along, unemployment is close to zero, people’s retirements aren’t being eroded by inflation, energy costs are low and all the things that make for a happy populace are in place, then you won’t have any problem getting reelected (which, lest we forget too, is the primary focus of all politicians — yeah, I know, it sucks but there it is).

Unfortunately, reining in public spending is difficult — it shouldn’t be, but to our betters in Congress it is — whereas making cheap political gestures (e.g. nailing the Jan 6 clowns or “impeaching the President”) are very easy, even though they don’t do diddly about making the voters’ lives more affordable.

You want some ideas? Sure.

Reduce every single government department’s budget by 25% (this number being close to the actual rate of inflation for the past two years). No exceptions.

Start the process of repealing the 16th Amendment, towards an end goal of a replacement Amendment which institutes a flat, universal, no-exemptions income tax of 5% that can only be raised by a Congressional (both House and Senate) vote majority of 75% — or, even better, repealing all wage, corporate, estate and cap gains taxes to be replaced by a national end-user sales tax. (I can dream, too.)

Pass a law which institutes a blanket “sunset” provision of ten years for every law in the U.S. Code, past, present and future. (If a law’s that good, it should pass a re-vote easily; if not, it should die a well-deserved death. If this makes Congress too busy to create more laws, that’s a feature, not a bug because we have too many laws on the books already.)

Start the process of repealing the 17th Amendment. The state legislature, not the people of the state, should decide who should be sent to represent the state’s interests in Congress. (The people can control this by voting for their U.S. House and local legislatures, as originally envisioned by the Constitution.)

Of course, there are more suggestions, many more. But none of them have anything to do with empty political gestures.